Method of and machine for operating upon soles



E. QUINN Aug. 6, 1940.

METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR OPERATING UPON SOLES Filed July 13, 1938 5 Sheets-Sheet l Aug. 6, 1940. OE. QUINN 2.21o,040

METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR OPERATING UPON SOLES Filed July 13, 1938 s Sheets-Sheet .2

Fig". 2.

E. QUINN Aug. 6, 1940.

METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR OPERATING UPON SOLES 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed July 13, 1938 AWE/v UE.

Fig: 5.

Patented Aug. 6, 1940 UNITED STATES METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR OPERATING UPON SOLES Edward Quinn, Maiden, Mass., assignor to The Del-Mac Shoe Process Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application July 13, 1938, SerialNo. 218,997

25 Claims.

This invention relates to the preparation of soles for boots and shoes, and more particularly, to shoulder-channeled soles, as for turn shoes, in which the margin of the sole is cut to form a shoulder and a feather portion defined outwardly of the shoulder. In its various aspects, the invention consists in providing a. novel method of channeling such soles, a machine for efficiently performing the steps of, the method, and the product of the method or machine as an article of manufacture.

In making single sole shoes, exemplified by the usual turn construction, the rounded sole is channeled in a machine having a pair of knives which operate respectively to form a shoulder and a stitch channel inwardly of the shoulder, after which the margin of the sole is molded toward the tread side to facilitate the inseaming operations. After the inseam has been formed and the shoe has been turned and second-lasted, the edge of the sole is trimmed, set and finished.

In the course of these several operations, the

thickness of the sole edge is materially reduced, first in the channeling operation if the outside knife is not accurately set, then the extreme edge margin is apt to be compressed between the rolls of the molding machine, thus further reducing the edge thickness, and thereafter material is removed from the edge in the trimming and finishing operations, so that the thickness of the edge of the sole in the finished shoe is considerably less than the original thickness of the rounded blank. Since the grain surface of the sole is conformed to the bottom of the last on which the shoe is made, the effect of the total edge reduction is to remove material from the feather adjacent to the crease of the shoe defined be tween the feather and the upper, in some instances exposing the inseam. In attempts to 'v remedy this, it is usual to roll the margin'of the sole upwardly against the upper to close the crease and protect the inseam, however, this practice results in imparting an objectionable rounded appearance to the shoe bottom.

This invention in one aspect, provides a process of operating upon soles that will increase the sole edge thickness. The process bending the marginal portion of the sole at an angle to thebody portion thereof and applying pressure to the edge of the bent marginal portion of the sole so as to increase its'thickness. It is apparent that this process not only will give the desired thickness to the sole edge but, in addition, the pressure which deforms and thickens the edge of the sole will also compact the edge comprises fibres thereby materially facilitating. the subsequent edge setting operation. The increase'in the sole edge thickness will also result in a flat sole bottom in the finished'shoe as the thickened edge will naturally be in contact with the upper as distinguished from the above mentioned shoe constructions wherein the sole bottoms have an objectionable rounded appearance due to the necessity of rolling the sole margin upwardly to protect the inseam.

This invention also provides a further method in the practice of which asole edge is thickened and the sole is channeled in such a manner as to cut a channel of the desired shape in the margin of the sole without reducing the thickness of the sole edge; This method,'as described herein,

comprises the steps of deforming the marginal portion-of a sole, upsetting the edge of the deformed margin so as to thicken that edge, and cutting a desired channel in the deformed marginal portion of the sole inwardly of the thickened edge so as not to reduce the edge thickness.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved machine by means of which the above methods can be practiced. To this end, as illustrated herein, this invention provides a machine which comprises a work support, an edge gage laterally spaced from the work support, means for forcing the overhanging portion of I a sole on the work support which lies between the work support and theedge gage into the space between those members and against the edge gage thereby thickening the sole edge, and a channeling knife arranged to cut a channel in the bent marginal portion of the sole inwardly of the thickened edge.

These and other features of the invention will appear more fully from the following detailed, description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings and will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a machine embodying this invention;

Fig. 21s a front elevation of a portion of the machine shown'in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a portion of the head of the machine shown in Fig. 1 with certain parts broken away to show the arrangement of the edge gage and cutting tools when operating upon a sole and also a portion of the knife carrier; j I

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken along line IV--IV of Fig. 3 showing the arrangement of the various tools that operate upon the sole;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view on .an enlarged scale showing a sole being channeled and the relative positions of the edge gage, deflecting member, presser foot and channeling knives during a channeling operation;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view similar to that shown in Fig. 5 with the presser foot and the deflecting member removed to show more clearly the relative positions of the channeling knives when channeling a sole with its margin bent over the edge of the work support;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view of a sole after it has been channeled and the bottom surface returned to its normal position, the View showing the configuration of channeled surface of the feather and the thickened edge resulting from the channeling and edge thickening operations;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view of an attached sole and upper showing the relative positions of the thickened edge and upper, and

Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic view on an enlarged scale showing the area in the marginal portion of a sole which is displaced when the overhanging portion of the sole is forced down between the work support and the edge gage by the presser foot.

The invention is shown in the accompanying drawings as applied to a channeling machine of the type shown and described in U. S. Patent No. 1,023,801, granted April 23, 1912 on application of Frederick E. Bertrand. For a description of the general organization and operation of the machine, reference should be had to that patent since only so much of the machine will be described in the present application as is considered necessary for the purpose of clearly disclosing this invention.

In the drawings, in indicates a work table which is adjustably mounted on the machine head l2 and is arranged to present the work to the cutting tools of the machine. The cutting tools that operate upon work positioned on the work support It) are supported by a carrier M (Fig. 3) which is pivotally mounted in the machine head on a pair of bearing pins 16 and [8 which support the carrier for oscillating movement in the direction of work feed. The carrier I4 is oscillated by suitable connections with a cam (not shown) which corresponds to the cam I36 of the above mentioned patent to Bertrand.

The cutting tools consist of a shoulder knife 20 and a channel knife 22 (Fig. 3). The channel knife 22 is connected to a channel knife block 24 which is clamped to a bracket 26 on the knife slide 28 by a bolt 30. Adjustably mounted in ways formed in the knife block 24, is a presser foot 32 which is arranged slidably to engage the upper face of a sole S on the work support and maintain constant the depth of the cuts made by the knives 20 and 22 in a manner which will be fully explained further along in this specification. The presser foot 32 is adjusted in a heightwise direction to change the depth of cuts made by the knives 28 and 22 bya thumb screw 34 which is threaded into a projecting lug 35 formed on the knife block 24 and which has its head received between a pair of arms 36 formed on the upper end of the presser foot 32. Also mounted in the carrier M, is a second slide 38 (Figs. 2 and 3) which supports at its lower end a knife block 48 that carries the shoulder knife 2!). The knife block is adjusted heightwise of the slide 38 thereby to adjust the knife 28 relatively to the work support 10 by a thumb screw 42 which has its head received in a slot formed in the lower end of the slide 38 and which is threaded into a lug 44 that projects from the block 48. The knife slides 28 and 38 are retained in the carrier M by a cover plate l5 (Fig. 1).

The knife slides 28 and 38 are vertically movable within the carrier 14 and are supported by threaded studs 86 and 38, respectively, (Figs. 2 and 3) which project from the upper ends of the slides and extend through a narrow opening formed in the head of the carrier by a plate 54. The slides are adjustably held from downward movement by check nuts 58 and 52 on the studs 38 and 48, which rest on the plate 54 (Fig. 3). The slides are allowed a limited amount of upward movement by coiled springs 58 and 58 (Fig. 2) which are interposed between the ends of these studs and screws 88 and ('32 which are mounted in the head of the carrier 14. The studs 48 and 58 are connected together by a tie plate !82 clamped between the check nuts 58 and 52 (Figs. 2 and 3). As a result of this interconnection the knife slides 28 and 38 move together in the carrier i4 and the knives 20 and 22 are both gaged from the presser foot 32 which is carried by the slide 28 and which is located inwardly from the edge of the work support In (Fig. 5). By positioning the presser foot 32 inwardly from the edge of the work support, any inaccuracy due to a possible humping or bunching of the work as it is bent over the edge of the support is avoided. It is to be noted that the shoulder knife 28 is located just behind a deflecting member 82 (Fig. 4) and is arranged to make its cut over the corner of the support near the point where the sole is held between the defleeting member 82 and the Work support I 0 (Figs. 5 and 6). By locating the shoulder knife at that point the thickness of the shoulder cut will be maintained constant due to the fact that the portion being cut is firmly held by the deflecting member 82, work support It) and edge gage 14 (Fig. 5) and is also supported by the support and hence cannot be crowded upwardly or pushed downwardly away from the knife depending upon the varying bevels of poorly sharpened knives.

It is desirable to raise the knives out of engagement with the work at the end of the channeling operation and to this end the knife slides 28 and 38 are provided with pins 84 and 66 which extend through an opening in the carrier housing (Fig. 1) where they are engaged by a pair of levers 1i) and '12 which are actuated in a wellknown manner fully described in the above mentioned patent to Bertrand.

An edge gage M is provided for guiding the work past the knives and is adjustably mounted upon a carrier 78 that is slidable in ways formed in a block 18. The edge gage carrier 16 is connected with the knife slide 38 by means of a pin connection 88 (Fig. 3) which extends between these members and is arranged to move the edge gage 14 in unison with the knives.

In the manufacture of certain types of soles such as, for example, soles for turn shoes, it is desirable to have the edge of the sole at least as thick as the normal thickness of the sole and thicker if possible for a number of reasons, some of which are referred to above and others which will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. The illustrated machine is arranged to thicken a sole edge concomitantly with the channeling operation. To perform the sole thickening operation, the edge gage 14 is moved laterair ally away from the work support I8 (Fig. 5). and is adjusted so that a portion of itsguiding face extends below the surface of the work support. An efficient lateral spacing of the edge gageand the work support has been found to be one which is somewhat less than the thickness of the sole to be channeled. As-isbest shown in Fig. 5, the deflecting member 82 is arranged to force the margin of a sole on the work support down into the space between the work support and thegage. The deflecting member 82 is, provided :with an inward shoulder 83 which overlies the edge of the work support In and engages the upper face of a soles on the work support I and a finger 84 which is in alinement with the opening between the edge gage 14 and the work support III, and which forces the overhanging marginal portion of a sole S on the work support down into the space between the work support and edge gage. This forcing or, crowding ofthe mar ginal portion of the sole S downwardly into the space between the work support I0 and edge gage I4 will force that portion of the. sole edge which is abutting the edge gage against the face,

of the gage with sufficient pressure to deform and considerably thicken it.

This sole edge thickening action will perhaps be better understood byreferring to Figg9. It will there be seen that when the overhanging portion of the sole edge shown in full lines is depressed by the finger 84 to the dottedline-g position, the hatched portion A of the sole edge tends to move into the space occupied by. the edge gage 14. However, vents this movement of the material in the hatched area that material will be displaced; some of it will be crowded back into the sole edge compacting the same, a portion will go into the area E, and the rest will be crowded down.

into the area D with the result thatthe sole edge will be materially thickened.

In accordance with present practice, the thickness of, the sole edge is increased to approximately 50% greater than the normal thickness of the sole; however, it is possible to double the normal thickness of the soleedge in the practice of this invention. j I,

The deflecting member 82 is mounted on a slide 85 (Fig. 1) which is guided in waysformedon the under side of a face plate 86 attached to the cover plate 15 of the carrier I4. Thus the defleeting member 82 and the slide 85 will be moved by the carrier I4 in unison with the knives 20, 22 and the'edge gage 14 as the carrier is oscillated during the operation of the machine. As the deflectingmember s2 is located immediately ahead of the shoulder knife 28 (Fig. 4) it will progressively force the overhanging sole margin down between the work support and the edge gage ahead of the shoulder knife 28 on the cutting stroke, and, due to the proximity of the shoulder knife to the deflecting member, the shoulder knife will make its cut in the bent marginal portion of the sole. The slide 85 is forced downwardly toward the work support by a spring 88 (Figs. 1 and 2) which is positioned between a laterally extending arm 98 on the slide 85 and a screw 92 threaded in a lug 94 on the face plate I5. The pressure exerted by the presser foot 82 on the sole margin is dependent on the tension inthe spring 88, and may be adjusted byrotatingthe screw .92 which .adjusts the tension in the spring 88. Downward movement of the deflecting member 82 is. limited by a screw 96 which isthreaded into a lug 98 (Figs.- 1 and 2) projecting from the slide 8 and which as the edge gage prethe, distance between the edge gage I4 and work support I0 is adjusted, preferably to adistance that is somewhatless than the thickness of the soles to be channeled; the abutment pin 96 adjusted to regulate the downward limit of movement of the deflecting member 82, and the presser foot 32 adjusted to regulate the depth of the cuts made by the knives 20 and 22. A sole S is then placed upon the work support III with. its edgein abutting engagement with the edge gage 14' and thesupport I8 is moved upwardly in the usual manner to bring the sole into a position where it can be operated upon by the knives 20 and 22. As the sole is moved up into this positionthe marginal edge of the sole S is forced downwardly into moves the knives 28 and 22 and the deflecting member 82, all of which are carriedby the carrier I4, and also the edge gage I4 which isconnected to the carrier by the pin .80, toward the work holding foot I04 on a cutting stroke, the carrier being driven by the usual carrier actuating mechanism such, for example, as that disclosed in the above mentioned Bertrandfpatent. On the cutting stroke the deflecting member82 will progressively force the overhanging portion of the sole margin down between the work supportand the edge gage thereby thickening the sole edge, and the shoulder knife 28 which is located immediately behind the deflecting member will make its out in the deflected or bent marginal area ,of the sole inwardly of the sole. edge so as to avoid removal of material atthe extreme edge of the sole. At the completion of the cutting strokegthe work holding foot I04 is moved upwardly out of engagement with the sole and the carrier, !4 is swung back away from the foot I04 carrying the sole with it. This backward movement of the carrier constitutes the feed stroke of the machine.

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is: r v

l. The process of channeling soles which comprises supporting a-sole inwardly of its edge, bending the unsupported marginal portion of the sole at an angle to the supported body portion, and

removing a strip of materialfrom the bentmarginal portionto form thereon a feather and'a shoulder. I 2. The process of channeling soles which comprises supporting a sole inwardly of its edge, bending the unsupported marginal portion of the sole at an angle to the supported body portion, and

making a curved cut in the bent marginal portion to form thereon a shoulder and a feather defined outwardly of the shoulder. I

3. The process of channeling soles which com prises supporting a sole inwardly of its edge, bending the unsupported marginal portion of the sole at an angle to the supported body portion, and

channeling the bent marginal portion of the sole inwardly of the edge face thereby to avoid reducing the edge thickness.

' 4. The process of channelingsoles which comprises supporting a sole inwardly of its edgesso that an unsupported marginal portion extends outwardly from the supported portion, holding the sole in that position and progressively ole-- pressing a portion of the unsupported margin of the sole below the upper surface of the supported portion, making a channel cut in the depressed portion inwardly of the edge face, releasing the sole and advancing the same to a new position, and repeating'the above steps until the desired portion of the sole margin is channeled.

5. The process of preparing a shoe sole which comprises bending the marginal portion of the solev at. an angle to the body portion thereof, and applying pressure to the edge of the bent marginal portion of the sole to increase its thickness.

6. The process of thickening the edge of a shoe sole which comprises forcing the edge face of a sole against an abutment and bending the marginal portion of the sole at an angle to the body portion thereof against the resistance of the abutment.

'7. The process of preparing shoe soles which comprises supporting a sole inwardly of its edge, progressively bending the unsupported margin of the sole at an angle to the supported body portion, and applying pressure to the edge of the bent maginal portion to deform the edge and increase its thickness.

8. The process of. operating upon a sole which comprises placing a sole on a work support with a portion of its margin overhanging the edge of the work support and in engagement with an abutment, holding the sole in this position while bending the overhanging marginal portion of the sole at an angle to the body portion on the support and concomitantly forcing the edge face of the bent marginal portion against the abutment thereby to upset and thicken the edge, releasing the sole and advancing it to bring an adjoining marginal portion to an overhanging position on the work support where it is in engagement with the abutment, and progressively repeating these operations until the desired extent of the sole edge has been operated upon.

9. The process ofv operating upon soles which comprises deforming the marginal portion of a sole, upsetting the edge of the deformed margin so as to thicken the edge, and cutting a channel in the deformed marginal portion of the sole.

10. The process of operating upon soles. which comprises bending the margin of. a sole at an angle to the body portion thereof, applying pressure to the edge of the bent marginal portion to increase its thickness, and making a channel cut in a surface of the marginal portion inwardly of the thickened edge so as not to reduce the width of the thickened edge portion.

11. The process of operating upon soles which comprises supporting a sole inwardly of its edge, progressively bending the unsupported marginal portion of the sole at an angle to the supported body portion and applying pressure to the edge face of the bent marginal portion to thicken the edge, and making a channel cut in the bent marginal portion of the soleinwardly of the edge thereby to avoid reducing the edge thickness.

12. The process of operating upon soles defined in claim 11 in which the channel cut is made subsequent to the bending and edge thickening operation. 1 a

13. The process of operating upon soles which comprises the-steps of supporting a sole inwardly of its edge, depressing the unsupported marginal portion of the sole below the supported body portion and forcingthe edge of the depressed portion against an abutment thereby to deform the edge and increase its thickness, and making a channel cut in the top surface of the bent marginal portion of the soleinwardly of the deformed edge so as not toreduce the thickness of the deformed edge.

14. The process of operating upon soles which comprises placing a sole on a work support with its flesh surface uppermost and with a portion of its margin overhanging an edge of the support and in engagement with an abutment, holding the sole in this position while depressing the overhanging marginal portion of. the sole below the body portion on the support and concomitantly forcing the edge against the abutment thereby to thicken the edge, making a channel cut in the flesh side of the sole inwardly of the edge so as not to reduce the thickened edge, and then releasing the sole and advancing the same to a new position.

15. The process of operating upon soles which comprises placing a sole on a support with its flesh surface uppermost and with its marginal portion overhanging the edge of the support, depressing the overhanging marginal portion of the sole below the flesh surface of the body por tion of the sole on the support and concomitantly upsetting the edge of the depressed marginal portion to increase its thickness approximately 50%, and making a channel cut shaped to form a shoulder and a lip in the marginal portion of the sole.

16. The process of operating upon soles which comprises placing a sole on a work support with a portion of its margin overhanging the edge of thesupport and in engagement with an abutment, holding the sole in this position and progressively depressing the overhanging marginal portionv of the sole below the body portion of the sole on the support and concomitantly forcing the edge against the abutment thereby to thicken the edge, making a channel cut in the bent surface of the sole so as to form thereon a shoulder and a feather, and then releasing the sole and advancing the same to a new position to bring an adjoining marginal portion to an overhanging position on the work support and progressively repeating these operations until the desired extent of'the solemargin has been operated upon.

17. A sole fitting machine having, in combination, a work support, an edge gage laterally spaced from the work support and arranged to engage the edge face of a sole on the work support, and means for pressing the edge face of the sole on the work support against the guiding face of the edge gage thereby to thicken the edge of the sole.

18. A sole fitting machine having, in combination, awork support, an edge gage laterally spaced from the edge of. the work support and arranged to engage the side face of a sole onthe work support, said edge gage having a guiding face Which'extends below the plane of the surface of the work support, and means for depressing the overhanging portion of a sole on the work support which lies between the edge of the work support andthe face of the edge gage and for pressing the side face of the overhanging portionof the sole against the face of the edge gage thereby to thicken the edge of the sole.

19. A sole fitting machine having, in combi nation, a work support, an edge gage laterally spaced from the edge of the work support and arranged to engage the side face of a sole on the work support, said edge gage having a guiding face which extends below the plane of the surface of the work support, means for progressively depressing the overhanging portion of the sole on the work support which lies between the edge of the work support and the face of the edge gage in advance of a channeling operation, and a channeling knife arranged to cut a channel in the depressed portion of the sole.

20. A sole fitting machine as defined in claim 19 in which the means for depressing the overhanging portion of the sole on the work support is also arranged to force the edge of the overhanging portion of the sole against the guiding face of the edge gage with sufficient pressure to deform the edge of the sole and thereby thicken the sole edge,

21. A sole fitting machine having, in combination, a work support, an edge gage laterally spaced from the edge of the work support and arranged to engage the side face of a sole on the work support, said edge gage having a guiding face which extends below the plane of thesurface of the work support, means for depressing the unsupported portion of the sole on the work support which lies between the edge of the work support and the face of the edge gage and for forcing the edge of the depressed portion against the face of the edge gage thereby to thicken the sole edge, and a channel knife arranged to cut a channel in the depressed portion of the sole inwardly of the thickened edge thereby to avoid reducing the edge thickness.

22. A channeling machine comprising a work support, an edge gage laterally spaced from the work support, and means comprising a deflecting member having a lug thereon for depressing the marginal portion of a sole on the work support which lies between the edge of the work support and the edge gage and-for forcing the side face of the depressed portion of the sole against the edge gage thereby to thicken the edge of the sole.

23. A channeling machine as defined in claim 22 in which the means for depressing the marginal portion of the sole and forcing the sole edge against the edge gage includes a resilient device for forcing the deflecting member against the sole margin, and means for adjusting the resilient device thereby to, regulate the pressure exerted on thesole margin by the deflecting member.

24'. A channeling machine comprising a work support, an edge gage, laterally spaced from the work support, means for forcing the overhanging marginal portion of a work piece on the work support down into the space between the work support and the edge gage, a shoulder knife and a channel knife arranged to operate upon a sole on the work support, a shoulder knife slide and a channel knife slide for said sholuder knife-and channel knife respectively, means for interconnecting said slides whereby said knives will be moved together heightwise of the work support, and a gage for said knives arranged to cooperate withthe upper surface of a sole on the work support and control the depth of the cuts made by the knives, said gage being connected to one of said slides and located inwardly from the edge of the work.

25. A channeling machine having in combination, a work support, an edge gage laterally spaced from the work support, means for depressing the marginal portion of a sole on the work support into the space between the edge of the work support and the edge gage and for forcing the edge face of the depressed marginal portion against theedge gage, an edge knife constructed and arranged to form a shoulder and a lip in the bent marginal portion of a sole on the work support sole'will not affect the depth of the shoulder cut by the edge knife-said means for depressing the marginal portion of the sole being arranged to hold with the solemargin in the depressed position under substantial pressure during the channeling operation thereby to prevent the edge knife from gouging or pushing the stock from under it during its cutting stroke.

EDWARD QUINN. 

